In many radio communication applications, such as radios, cellular phones, the likes and their combinations, it becomes necessary to be able to reliably lower the communication device's antenna to reduce the size of the overall communication device. After the antenna is extended as a straight antenna, placed close to the user's head, as in a typical handphone usage, the close proximity of the extended straight antenna loads down the antenna's performance and reduces the antenna's gain.
When the communication device such as a radio and phone combination is used to make a phone call, the user brings the device next to his/her left or right ear and extends the device's antenna. Typical retractable antennas are designed in such a way that the antenna comes out of the radio straight up. The proximity of the user's head to the antenna has shown to degrade antenna performance considerably due to the antenna loading effect. In order to reduce the loading effects and therefore improve antenna efficiency it would be preferable to have the antenna tilted away from the user's head.
Some phone manufacturers have come up with a design to tilt the antenna by actually molding the antenna boss in an already tilted angle. A canted, tilted, or otherwise positioned antenna, angled away from the user's head, enabled by an angled antenna boss, has better gain characteristics as seen in U.S. Pat. No. 5,590,416. However, this solution presents several mechanical challenges as far as the interface required internally to providing the bending of the antenna without breakage and deformation to the antenna assembly. Furthermore, the angled boss design maybe objectionable to the user because of the sharp corner or otherwise bent physical appearance of such a canted antenna.
A need, therefore, exits for an antenna assembly which can overcome the above mentioned problems associated with present day radio antenna assemblies, without sacrificing aesthetics or mechanical reliability.